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How could it when so many business, non-profit, government agency and association managers apparently believe public relations is all about creating some publicity by moving a message from one point to another using tactics like broadcast plugs, press releases and brochures?

When you think about it, that belief doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when

According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product

the managers who hold that view have such an obvious need for public relations that leads directly to achieving their managerial objectives.

I’m talking about public relations that really does something meaningful about the behaviors of those manager’s important outside audiences that MOST affect the departmental, divisional or subsidiary unit they m

; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

Examples of combination products may in

nage.

Perhaps most important, I refer to public relations that persuades those key outside folks to the managers’ way of thinking by helping move audience members to take actions that help each manager’s unit succeed.

With that kind of promise, how COULD the usual kind of tactical PR cut it?

Especially when PR’s underlying premise further sweetens th

lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

promise: people act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is usually a

here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe

ccomplished.

What they soon come to realize is that the right public relations planning really CAN alter individual perception and actually lead to changed behaviors among key outside audiences.

Should you count yourself among such managers, please remember that your PR effort must demand more than special events, news releases and talk show tactics i

d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

Combination pro

you are to receive the quality public relations results you believe you deserve.

And what a variety of results should come your way: politicians and legislators begin looking at you as a key member of the business, non-profit or association communities; new proposals for strategic alliances and joint ventures start showing up; welcome bounces in s

ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc

ow room visits occur; capital givers or specifying sources begin to look your way; customers commence making repeat purchases; membership applications start to rise; prospects actually start to do business with you; and community leaders begin to seek you out.

Since they are already in the perception and behavior business, the PR pros on your staff can

easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi

be of real use for your new opinion monitoring project. But be certain they really accept why it’s SO important to know how your most important outside audiences perceive your operations, products or services. In the final analysis, be sure they believe that perceptions almost always result in behaviors that can help or hurt your operation.

During y

nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically

ur planning sessions with the PR staff, cover your plans for monitoring and gathering perceptions by questioning members of your most important outside audiences. Ask questions like these: how much do you know about our organization? Have you had prior contact with us and were you pleased with the exchange? Are you familiar with our services or produc

and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ

s and employees? Have you experienced problems with our people or procedures?

Should someone suggest using a professional survey firm to do the opinion gathering work, be aware that it could cost considerably more than using those PR folks of yours in that monitoring capacity. So, whether it’s your people or a survey firm asking the questions, the

ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi

bjective remains the same: identify untruths, false assumptions, unfounded rumors, inaccuracies, misconceptions and any other negative perception that might translate into hurtful behaviors.

Now you must call for action on the most serious problem areas you uncovered during your key audience perception monitoring. And that means setting a public rel

ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

Following aspects would a

ations goal. Will it be to straighten out that dangerous misconception? Correct that gross inaccuracy? Or, stop that potentially painful rumor dead in its tracks?

It is obvious that setting your PR goal means you must set an equally specific strategy that tells you how to get there. Only three strategic options are available to you when it comes to d

dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
Which combination prod

ing something about perception and opinion. Change existing perception, create perception where there may be none, or reinforce it. The wrong strategy pick will taste like sorghum syrup on your anchovies. So be sure your new strategy fits well with your new public relations goal. You certainly don’t want to select “change” when the facts dictate a

cts are meaningful and rational?
Which therapeutic categories to select?
Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
Do combin

trategy of reinforcement.

Because you must prepare a persuasive message that will help move your key audience to your way of thinking, good writing becomes crucial. It must be a carefully-written message targeted directly at your key external audience. Assign the task to your very best writer because s/he must come up with really corrective langua

tions increase the patient compliance?
What would be the developing cost?
How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen

ge that is not merely compelling, persuasive and believable, but clear and factual if they are to shift perception/opinion towards your point of view and lead to the behaviors you have in mind.

How will you carry your message to the attention of your target audience? By selecting the communications tactics most likely to reach those key folks. Ther

t?

As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel

are many such tactics available. From speeches, facility tours, emails and brochures to consumer briefings, media interviews, newsletters, personal meetings and many others. But be certain that the tactics you pick are known to reach people just like your audience members.

Because the WAY in which you communicate can affect the credibility and fragi

ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust

ity of your message, you may wish to unveil your corrective message before smaller meetings and presentations rather than using higher-profile news releases.

No doubt you’ve anticipated that you will need to begin a second perception monitoring session with members of your external audience in order to compare how far your public relations program h

y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products

as come. The need for such a progress report will cause you to use many of the same questions used in the benchmark session. But now, you will be on strict alert for signs that the bad news perception is being altered in your direction.

Any slowdowns in the program should not be a source of concern since you can always speed things up by adding mor

.

As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de

communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.

At the end of the day, what you will have done is marshall the resources and action planning needed to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors among your most important outside audiences. During which, you will have helped persuade those key folks to your way of thinki

elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

Companies that provide selfless information through particip

g, and moved them to take actions that allow your department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website. A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net. Word count is 1225 including guidelines and resource box. Robert A. Kelly © 2006

tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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The industry of traveling nurses has picked up and the number of companies has soared in recent years. With the United States of America and Canada experiencing a shortage in for the past couple of years, traveling nurse companies are appearing in large numbers. Within the United States and Canada, these companies search for nurses and send them to medical centers and hospitals that are in need of and lack manpower. The nurses who are sent to different locations enjoy a lifestyle of traveling and lucrative pay. They are also given medical, health, life, dental and vision insurance, with food and lodging allowances, and an all-expense paid trip to their destination. They may even be given a retirement package. Some companies offer allowances for continued education. Wanting to stock up on their manpower, companies offer loyalty and referral bonuses to encourage their current nurses to stay while looking for more health-care professionals.

...In many situations we act without even knowing why we act the way we do...This is no longer desirable when your organization is changing too often...Knowledge Management is (amongst other aspects) about making the “private” knowledge “publicly” available...So that you can bridge the Knowledge Gap...But your organization was not used to this. Different teams applied different principles...And now what? How to address this new set of principles so that knowledge management is adopted in the primary process?

We are constantly seeking was to promote and market our business. Ideas are posted everywhere and advice being handed out by the handfuls. However, have you ever stopped and asked yourself when it's the WRONG time to promote your business?

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